SMT: Brian Loftin - Martinsville spotlight

LOFTIN HOPING TO ONCE AGAIN BE BEST IN NASCAR WHELEN SOUTHERN MODIFIED
TOUR CLASS AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 29, 2006) -- Brian Loftin was the best in
class last year as far as the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified ...

LOFTIN HOPING TO ONCE AGAIN BE BEST IN NASCAR WHELEN SOUTHERN MODIFIED
TOUR CLASS AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 29, 2006) -- Brian Loftin was the best in
class last year as far as the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
drivers in the Made in America Whelen 300 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The only problem for Loftin, though, was 11 of the northern-based NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour drivers finished ahead of him.

In fact, Loftin, of Lexington, N.C., was only one of four Whelen Southern
Modified Tour drivers -- including Jay Foley, Junior Miller and Tim
Brown -- that finished on the lead lap. Jay Hedgecock was the only
Southern Modified Tour driver to lead a lap -- and just one lap at
that -- in a race that was thoroughly dominated by drivers from
north of the Mason-Dixon line.

"I really wasn't happy with our race car last year at
Martinsville and I know a lot of the Southern Modified Tour drivers
weren't happy with how they ran either," Loftin said.
"Jay Hedgecock and I ran in the top-five for a while. Going back to
Martinsville this year I really think the southern guys are going to be a
lot more competitive."

Loftin is once again looking to be best among his peers at Martinsville,
starting in Friday night qualifying. As of Aug. 28, there are 58 teams
trying to make their way into the 43-car field for Saturday night's
race. As was the case one year ago, this weekend's activities will
be a companion event between the New England-based NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour as well as the southern teams like Loftin who compete in the NASCAR
Whelen Southern Modified Tour.

In the combination format, drivers are credited with an official
placement relative to the other drivers in their "home"
series. For Loftin, last year's 12th-place overall finish earned
him a first-place finish, on paper, and maximum points towards the Whelen
Southern Modified Tour championship standings.

"I absolutely love being able to race against the 'best of
the best' at a track like Martinsville," Loftin says.
"Any true racer wants to race against the 'best of the
best' and that's what happens when you bring all the modified
drivers together for one race. If you win at Martinsville, you know
you've beaten the best modified drivers there are. I know for a
fact that we're coming with all our best equipment because
Martinsville is a huge race for everybody."

The rich racing tradition at Martinsville Speedway is almost built on
nearly 60 years of competition as the southern Virginia track hosted its
first race --a Modified event -- on Sept. 7, 1947. The
importance of that tradition through the years is something that's
not lost on Loftin, who says he's been coming to the .526-mile
track watching both Modified and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races since he
was a youngster.

"I'll never forget coming to watch the Modified races here at
Martinsville since I was a little kid," Loftin says. "I
don't know why but I've always seemed to like Modified racing
at Martinsville and I watched a lot of my heroes do battle at that place.
I grew up a Modified fan and those that used to race there are still my
heroes. If you want to watch a good Modified race there's not a
better track to go to than Martinsville because there is so much history
behind it.

"To be able to finally be able to get the chance to race at
Martinsville for the first time like I did last year with guys I
consider to be stars like Tony Hirschman was awesome because I can
remember watching him win races when I was a kid. I'll never forget
that night. It's just an awesome race, that's all you can say
about watching the Modifieds at Martinsville Speedway."

So what would it mean to Loftin to not only be best in NASCAR Whelen
Southern Modified Tour class once again and but also his NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour counterparts?

"[To win the race] would be huge," said Loftin. "That
would by far be the greatest thing to ever happen to me in racing. Just
being able to have the chance to race against a lot of those drivers is
an honor -- to beat them and win at Martinsville would be huge.
It'd also mean a lot to the Whelen Southern Modified Tour fans
because I know they want us to do good just as much as we do."